Prince x Wanderer
by luckycarrot
Summary: Kaito was once more running away alone...But this time he had the skills to take vengeance for his fallen family. Revenge would bring unexpected forces into his life, however. KxG
1. Chapter 1

I

The column of smoke rose above the trees, a deep grey stain in the clear skies. As soon as Kaito saw it, he knew it was pointless to continue towards the encampment. Still, he pulled the hood over his dark blue hair and left the trail, hoping to be able to approach the site unnoticed by blending in the foliage.

Avoiding the spots where sunlight shone through the treetops, he carefully crept closer. Soon, he began to smell the stench, and hear the screams. All the while, part of him tirelessly repeated inside his head why there was nothing he could do: as skilled as he was, one man against many attackers was without question a lost fight. They had already defeated the rest of the band, and he was weary from the long journey.

And yet he continued. If nothing else, he had to see his friends, one last time. He would fix their faces in his mind, to remind him what he must do next.

The Eto that Kaito used to visit in his mother's nighttime stories had white cities and fields of ripe grain, merry festivals and roads frequented by caravans of merchants and troupes of minstrels and mummers. It was the Eto of the past: the great unified empire that spanned the archipelago and a sizable portion of the mainland, the nation that was the beacon for the entire world.

The Eto he lived in was a different thing altogether, a land in constant war for as long as he could remember. In fact, he had been told once that the land had not known a full year of peace ever since the death of the last emperor, decades before he was even born. The twelve biggest city-estates alternatively formed alliances and fought each other, and were besieged in turn by warlords. Peasants were oppressed by anyone with a modicum of power, and had to contend with monsters and wild beasts. The wide roads of old had fallen in disrepair, in many places without the number of guards and outposts that would dissuade animals and bandits from threatening the travelers.

Some people had no choice but to travel, however, and oftentimes paid a heavy price. Kaito's family had to reach the town of Shirakaba, for some reason that the young boy couldn't quite grasp. It had been a pleasant journey for him, riding on top of the many boxes and bundles in his father's cart, until they came to a place where the trail met a bigger road paved with small, regular stones. Soon after, a group of men intercepted them. A word with no meaning to him had been uttered: deserters. Long after, a now teenaged Kaito had understood who they were: soldiers running away from the latest skirmish between the cities of Mi no Ariake and Ne Irie.

Quickly and casually, those strange men had slashed the throats of his father and uncle for the family's meager supplies. A moment later, his mother was pushing him away and ordering him to run. In a haze, he had obeyed her, with her cries and the grotesque laughter of the deserters ringing in his ears.

He walked for a long time, sometimes on the hard, dusty stones of the road, sometimes by its side, vainly looking for something to palliate the hunger gnawing at his insides. He knew nothing about surviving in the wild, and the few farms he passed by had been grazed by the armies of one city or the other, and had nothing to offer. He continued on for hours and hours, wandering without knowing for certain what he hoped to reach. He would have died; another body unwanted and unnoticed rotting by the wayside, if it hadn't been for Tane and Mio.

Tane and Mio were husband and wife, and the leaders of a small band of bandits and thieves. Most of the band consisted of their own extended family, and various stragglers who couldn't for some reason or another return to life inside a city-estate.

That day, Tane and a couple more bandits were heading back to their hideout when they ran into Kaito, half-delirious with thirst and hunger. Instead of ignoring him or finishing him off, they had carried him back with them, and Mio had immediately taken a shine to the boy.

He had learned much in the years that followed. They were, unmistakably, uncouth criminals, and everything Kaito now knew was a reflection of that: fighting with bare knuckles, knifes and swords, lock picking and sniping, stealth and subterfuge. And yet, there was a certain code of conduct that governed their actions, a basic morality that allowed the shadow of the escaped boy to survive inside of the adult with icy eyes.

The doom of the band had come from their reduced numbers, and their unwillingness to bow to any power. Even as they watched other bands get swallowed or exterminated by the growing hordes under the command of the warlord Yu, Tane had stubbornly refused to move away to another region of Eto. They were on the way, and Yu would sooner or later make an example out of them. Still, they had clung to the usual haunts.

And the day had come. They were all gone, and Kaito was once more running away alone. This time, however, he had the skills to take vengeance for his fallen family.

It was easy enough to join Yu's forces. Immersed as he was in his campaign to rule over all of southwest Eto, Yu had a constant need for hired swords. Kaito just traveled south to Yu's headquarters, a rapidly expanding fortress being constructed in a hill overlooking the town of Koume, and joined the latest group of hopefuls being ushered into an inner courtyard to be tested. In other circumstances, he might have been impressed by the frantic activity both in Koume and the fortress, the buzzing and cutting and smelting...But in his mind's eye, his second home was still burning. Still, his face betrayed nothing as he waited for his turn to fight in front of the officers standing in a corner of the courtyard.

Any doubts the recruiters had about letting the young and unremarkable man join had been summarily dispersed by the time Kaito made the third meathead in a row fall to the ground during the trails. They cared little about his background: any man wanting to join the ranks was likely to be escaping the law of the city-estates, in any case, or a clueless farmboy looking for some adventure.

Getting closer to Yu wasn't so easily accomplished. He was well protected, always surrounded by his more loyal officers, or off to some battle or another. There were days, however, when he suddenly and inexplicably disappeared, leaving all his usual retinue behind. Wherever he went, it was a place he trusted no one to follow. There were numerous rumors among the ranks as to where Yu went, and Kaito finally culled from them what was the most likely explanation: Yu had a mountain hideout, where he kept his most prized treasures, and he liked to go there to unwind in a setting fit for a king.

An idea began to form in Kaito's mind. At first, he had thought of nothing but ramming his knife through Yu's chest. But know, the idea of raiding the warlord's hideout had a certain appeal. Imagining the warlord's rage at seeing his prized collection scattered and ruined, all the stolen items stolen in turn not by an invading army, but by a single lone thief, made Kaito feel a cold amusement.

As Yu disappeared randomly, it wasn't possible to predict when he would next go to his mountain retreat. And watching the warlord so closely as to be able to spot him the moment he left would likely attract unwanted attention. In any case, Kaito reasoned, there was another way: Even if the mountain retreat was hidden, it would still need to be well stocked with food and beverages to make it a pleasurable place to rest. All of that had been transported there at one time, and would need replenishment. It was just a matter of finding the person responsible for maintaining the place in good condition.

The man in question was a sallow little thing called Akano; a mousey book-keeper permanently standing in the shadows as Yu and his lieutenants discussed one thing or another in the fortress' dinning hall. Kaito had vaguely wondered once or twice what he was doing in the middle of an army of thugs and muggers: Akano looked like he would be much more at ease behind the counter of a dinky store inside of a city-estate, or pouring over books in a musky library. Like most in Yu's army, he probably had made one too many mistakes.

As soon as he started considering approaching the man for info, Kaito realized Akano had taken some kind of interest on him as well. A couple of times, Kaito was standing guard or doing some menial work and had turned to find Akano staring at him from a window, or across a courtyard. At first, Kaito worried Akano was suspecting something. Then one day, as he was asking for a bottle of wine at the soldiers' cantina, Kaito saw the reflection of Akano's face, watching him from the back. Ah, so that was it. All the better: Kaito was no stranger to charming information out of people, and having the man attracted to him made things all the more simple.

A few drinks and some caresses later, he had the location of the retreat. And the best part was that Akano couldn't tell on him, without condemning himself as well. Kaito considered his options, as he looked without pity at the man sprawled in bed, snoring drunkenly, and made a point of stealing Akano's money pouch. He wouldn't be collecting his last salary, after all.

At first Kaito was disappointed in the size of Yu's retreat: A simple but luxurious house nestled in a wide crevice between two crags of the mountain, accompanied by a small shed or storage and surrounded by a small garden and orchard, with a high wall closing off the entrance. With the afternoon's sun beating hard on his head, the garden looked rather appealing with its paths of stepping stones shaded by a couple of flowering trees. All in all, the retreat was certainly nice, but hardly worthy of deserving the attribute of kingly. Nevertheless, he could still have some enjoyment out of robbing and torching the place.

From his vantage point, half hidden behind a rock formation, he had a nice view of the whole complex. With the rope and hook in his hand, he could climb down to the roof of the shed without much trouble. But he waited and watched for a while. As far as he knew, Yu was busy attacking Bou at the moment, but there might be a servant or two around.

His patience was rewarded some time later, when a robed figure exited the house with a basket of something or another in its hands.

It wasn't a servant, definitely. Although the figure's face was obscured by the large shawl over its head, it was slender and graceful, and the fabrics covering it from head to toe were colorful and delicate, embroidered with gold threads and crystals. It walked slowly, with some difficulty, and Kaito was soon realized the reason: a heavy chain connected the figure's ankles together, and two similar lengths of chain connected the figure's hidden neck to its wrists.

Now this was interesting. Had Yu abducted some nobleman's daughter? In a way, this explained his need for secrecy: if he was so infatuated with the girl, he wasn't likely to trust any of the apes he surrounded himself with to leave her untouched. Instead, he came here from time to time and played house. Kaito was tempted to laugh.

It would probably be difficult to get back the princess where she belonged, even if her parents still ruled whatever place he had taken her from, but the potential reward seem very well the effort. If not, he could always drop her off in some town, or even make her into his apprentice. He was a gregarious sort of man, and starting his own band of bandits seemed like the next step after he finished his work there.

The figure approached the shed, with the chain making an irritating sound as it dragged over the stones on the ground. Kaito briefly considered just stepping out of cover and calling out at her, but immediately rejected the idea. He had seen cases of people kidnapped who actually ended up helping their captors, out of some twisted attachment. The chains were a point against that notion, but he wasn't about to take any chances. And there was always the possibility of someone else left inside the house. Instead he slid down silently when the figure entered the shed, and waited until she came out, knife at the ready.

A moment later, she exited, no longer with the basket in hand, and in a whirlwind of motion, Kaito grabbed both her wrists with one hand and pushed her against the shed's wall, knife pointing at her...

...at his face.

The shawl had slipped off his head and shoulders, falling to the floor and releasing a cascade of vibrant purple hair that now framed a delicate but boyish face. To make matters more obvious, his chest was bare, aside of several expensive looking necklaces; quite likely, the boy was unable to wear the upper portion of his robes comfortably due to the chains constraining his arms.

Kaito at first estimated the young man to be a couple of years younger than him. Looking more closely, he quickly rectified the guess to around five years younger: He was tall, but the face was too childish to belong to a fully grown man. His eyes, a mixture of blue and green and shockingly bright, looked at him with more curiosity than alarm.

He was easily the most beautiful person Kaito had ever seen.


	2. Chapter 2

_Like a complete dummy, I forgot adding any sort of disclaimer to the first part…even the usual "it's my first fanfic, please be gentle." _

_Anyway, Kaito belongs to Crypton Future Media, Gakupo to Internet Co., story and art to me._

_Thanks to L-est for beta duties._

_Also, if you want to see my illustrations for this, check out narumo at deviantart_

II

Silence stretched for a few seconds. Somewhere behind Kaito, insects buzzed happily around the flowers in the garden, and a bird chirped. The hair ornaments on each side of the young man's brows clinked softly, as he tilted his head.

"This is a bit uncomfortable," he said, almost apologetically. "The chains are hurting my arms." His voice was low and slightly hoarse, as if he was about to come down with a sore throat. And yet there was certain sweetness to his tones, a hidden laugh somewhere.

Kaito relaxed his hold slightly, still keeping the knife close to the boy's neck. "Is there anyone else around here?" he asked.

"Just me" Kaito carefully gauged the boy's expression. He seemed sincere enough.

At Kaito's prompting, the boy started walking towards the house; with the bandit behind him keeping one of his hands resting on the boy's left shoulder and the other aiming the knife at his back.

"You can take anything you want. I wouldn't stop you even if I could." The boy said calmly as they made their way along the garden path surrounded by fragrant bushes. Kaito made no reply.

They reached a side door, and stepped into the coolness of a small kitchen, with colorful painted tiles and a fire cracking in a corner inside a small furnace. In the wall opposing the door, an opening lead into what appeared to be a bigger living area.

The house was even fancier on the inside, which Kaito quickly discovered. It had indoor plumbing, something only the richest merchants and the aristocracy of the city-estates enjoyed, including a bathtub that –as Kaito noted to himself with a smirk- could easily accommodate two people. The walls had painted frescoes with landscapes of the different zones of Eto, and although the furniture wasn't overly abundant, it was lacquered and painted with gold. Kaito made the young man show him each room in turn, until he was satisfied there was no one else in the property.

The last room they visited was the master's bedroom, with the expected large bed dominating a room of marble and fine dark wood. There were statues in the corners, and a couple of large trunks that Kaito couldn't wait to riffle through. It seemed almost too intimidating a room to actually use, and in fact it was so neat it didn't look as if it was being lived in at all.

"You sleep here?" Kaito stole a glance to the boy, who stood at the door quietly. His face was remote and unexpressive, like a festival mask.

"No" he whispered. "Not when he's away."

Kaito felt a sudden rush of pity for the boy, almost surprising for its intensity. He sheathed the knife and fished a lock pick from one of his inside pockets.

"You know, that sound you make when you walk is driving me insane. Is there a place less stuffy we can sit in while I take those chains off?"

The young man turned to look at him wide eyed, the beginnings of a hopeful expression showing in his face.

The music room was a long rectangular space opened in one side, with the wall replaced by mats of straw that could be rolled up to reveal a view of the garden. On one end, there was a raised platform that served as a small stage, with a princely chair placed before it. Kaito instantly imagined the boy dancing in the stage for Yu's enjoyment, with his long hair whipping around him. He shook his head, and made the boy sit on the chair, while he sat on the stage. He took one of the boy's feet on his lap, and studied the manacle. At least Yu had them loose enough not to hurt the young man's skin too much.

"My name's Kaito. What's yours?" He started casually.

"Gakupo Kamui." The young man looked with interest as Kaito worked the lock.

"Kamui...like the theater actor?" Kaito raised his eyes in surprise, and Gakupo nodded.

"You have seen him perform?" Gakupo asked innocently.

"What? No, that's far outside of my price range." Not to mention, Bou's guards had a bone or two to pick with him. "But by reputation alone, that's the first man one should think when hearing your name. He's your old man?"

"He adopted me."

Gakuto Kamui was the biggest theater actor in Bou. Even if the most of the performances were done in front of the most influential people in Eto, his skill was renowned far and wide, and the very few performances he did in front of the common people were almost legendary. Even Mio and Mine, one of her nieces, had a collection of woodprints celebrating Gakuto's most famous roles. How could Yu get his hands on the son of such an important person?

"My father tried to get me exempted from the draft, but his main sponsor died in one of the attacks, and his successor made sure every family sent at least one man to the barracks. I was captured in the very first battle I took part in." Probably sensing his puzzlement, Gakupo explained in a sedate tone, again wearing a closed off expression on his face.

With a satisfying click, the manacle around Gakupo's ankle fell open. Kaito rubbed the tender skin lightly and set off to work on the other one, considering what Gakupo had just told him. Bou was probably about to fall, if they were pulling unprepared boys from wealthy artist families to defend the walls. There were clearly defined roles in the upper echelons of the society of Eto, and in a normal situation only the military class and the populace would be required to serve in defense of the city-estate. And to staff the common soldiers with middle and upper class citizens was almost unbelievable.

"That's rotten luck," Kaito understated." Here we go." The other manacle fell as well, and Kaito threw the chain into a corner of a room with a whoop, prompting the shadow of a smile to pass through Gakupo's face.

"Now for the hands," Kaito took one of Gakupo's hands, inwardly admiring the softness of the skin. His own hands had their share of scars and calluses born out or years of rough treatment, but Kaito didn't particularly mind.

"You are very skilled at opening locks," Gakupo said politely.

"Nah, I'm not even the best of my band at this." There was no safe or lock that could resist little Mine, and she was well on her way to become a master of the craft before Yu's attack. Kaito was facing downwards, still working on the lock, and allowed himself to cringe at the memory of Mine's smile as they practiced lock picking together back in the old hideout.

"Still, you are very quick," Gakupo observed as the manacle opened, and Kaito rubbed his wrist.

"I try," Kaito said modestly, already at work with the other wrist.

"Could you take me with you, when you leave?" Gakupo inquired, rather abruptly. "If you want a reward, I'm sure my father..."

"Bou is under attack at the moment. I wouldn't' go anywhere near it right now." Gakupo's face fell and Kaito hastily added, "But of course I'll take you along. We'll just have to hang low in the coast for a while until they force Yu back to Koume, and then I'll take back to your dad." He was rewarded with a real smile this time, unguarded and thoroughly adorable.

_If_ they force Yu back, Kaito thought to himself. If Bou fell, there was no guarantee Gakuto wouldn't be killed, or slaved. Yu might even want both the father and the son to play with. Yet he kept all those thoughts to himself.

The manacle of Gakupo's right hand opened, and he stretched his arms with a pleased expression. Kaito leaned forward, placing a hand on Gakupo's chest.

"Keep your head up," He instructed, looking at the collar around the boy's slender neck. Gakupo tilted his head upwards, and closed his eyes patiently. Kaito felt a sudden urge to run a finger along Gakupo's jaw. The way his soft hair was tickling his hands wasn't adding to his concentration either. Kaito paused, trying to drive the unexpected impulses out from his head.

"This one looks a bit harder. Don't worry if I take longer, I'll get it undone" If I manage to keep myself focused, Kaito didn't add. He pushed Gakupo's long strands of hair out of the way and tried to ignore the very pretty boy inside of the collar.

"I was just about to start cooking dinner before you came," Gakupo said, oblivious to the effect he was having on the bandit. "Are we staying here tonight?"

"Hm...? Ah, yes, it's too late in the day to set out now. We'll leave tomorrow morning, so prepare some rations and pack anything you'd like to take after dinner."

"...I don't need anything of his."

"You'll need at least a couple of robes until we get to a place we can buy something less flashy. And I intend to sell all the fancy jewelry you are wearing, and anything else I can easily carry, if you don't mind."

"Do that. I don't want to see any of these things ever again." Gakupo's voice was stony. At that moment, the collar surrendered his hold on the young man's neck. Gakupo jumped out of the chair, letting the chain fall to the floor with a loud noise, and went through a series of moves that probably were part of some ceremonial dance. Kaito looked on, amazed at the fluidity of his movements, wondering in some corner of his mind if Gakuto's performances were anything like this. If that was the case, it was no wonder people flocked to his theater every week.

Gakupo stopped in the middle of an elaborate bow, and smiled sheepishly. "It's been so long I been completely unchained, I just wanted to try... Sorry." He pulled the upper portion of his robes up and wrapped himself properly in them, somewhat self-consciously.

"Hey, don't apologize. Moneybags all over Eto pay to see that, and I get to watch some of it for free." Gakupo chuckled lightly at this.

Though admittedly he had but a short criminal career –he was in his twenties, after all- Kaito had never faced a situation quite like this. None of his victims (merchant caravans, mostly) had ever sat him down at a fancy dinning table and fed him a delicious dinner, certainly. Despite his protests, Gakupo had insisted on doing all the preparations on his own, and hadn't sat by his side until everything was on the table, steaming and gleaming, and making Kaito wish more raids ended up as dinner dates.

By the time they were done eating, Kaito was smiling from ear to ear, for the first time in months. He set out with Gakupo to find the best things to loot, and he merrily trashed everything else, toppling over the statues and dropping the drawers of every piece of furniture to the floor, spilling their contents. Gakupo watched with discrete elation, and even stomped on a couple of things. He readily agreed to burn the house down the next morning, but wanted to spare the garden and orchard, if possible. Kaito suspected the greenery had been much more comforting to the boy that any of the finery Yu had surrounded him with.

When they were done, they piled a bunch of rugs, pillows and blankets in the music room, and laid down side-by-side speaking of what they would do the next day until sleep claimed them. All in all, it was the perfect end to cap the day.

Later that night, Kaito was lying facing the row of mats that served as a wall, stopping the night's chill from entering the room. He knew them to be closed, and yet now as he laid dreaming, one of them was partly rolled up, and he could glimpse a wavering silvery flame moving among the shadowed plants in the garden. It parted into a scattering of twinkling, fluttering lights around a dancing figure. The opalescent lights reflected on the figure's body, like sunrays traveling under the surface of a clear pool of water. Kaito suddenly felt weightless, as if floating, even as he knew himself heavy and immobilized by sleep. He felt a desperate need to reach out and take the figure in his arms, but his arms and legs failed to respond. The rhythm of the dance seemed to be punctuated by the throbbing of his head as he struggled with the cage of his own body. He longed to cry out, to call the figure to his side, but his throat was closed and useless. The figure continued its dance, slipping gently into the shadows, and Kaito fell deeper into sleep, sluggish and incoherent images dissolving slowly in his mind.

By the time he awoke, the next day, Gakupo was already up, making breakfast in the kitchen, and Kaito pushed aside the dream without a second thought.


	3. Chapter 3

_So…nobody has anything to say about this? Not even a "you suck"? :/ oh well…_

III

Coming down the mountains with Gakupo was almost like traveling with a large purple puppy, Kaito reflected. The first day he was clearly excited, in his quiet way, walking around looking at this and that, almost running circles around Kaito in his relief at being freed. In his defense, the northern slopes of the Manshirazan range were beautiful at that time of the year, covered with wild flowers in all the colors of the rainbow, and shaded with large pines and larches. The young artist made for a lovely image as he walked across patches of light and shadow, the hem of his colorful robes softly caressing the buds and young leaves.

The second day he was slightly subdued, however, and Kaito made a mental note to add sensible shoes to the list of things they needed to get when they reached the town. The high courtier sandals Gakupo was wearing were clearly doing him no favors, although the boy didn't complain.

Kaito's plans were to travel northeast into the lands under the control of Ne Irie, and maybe settle for a while in one of the little coastal towns that surrounded the port city-estate. Yu had shown no interest yet in that region, and probably didn't have the manpower to attempt any sort of direct conflict with them. Ne Irie was one of the strongest city-estates, with control over the trading routes with overseas, and a large fleet of swift vessels.

Their first stop was Reikou, a small town just north of the mountains, where Kaito knew a man that could help him to sell some of the jewelry they were carrying, and get papers to enter Ne Irie's borders.

By the time they were walking the town's muddy streets towards Tomoshiro's store, Kaito was kicking himself mentally for his lack of foresight. Although Gakupo was garbed in the sturdiest and most subdued robes he could find, he still stood up against the drab clothing of the peasants walking about. Kaito saw a group of gossiping housewives staring with clear jealousy at the richly embroidered clothing and rubbed the bridge of his nose in irritation. He should've made Gakupo wait outside town while he negotiated with Tomoshiro and bought everything they needed, but he didn't want to leave him alone for too long. But someone was bound to remember him and talk if Yu sent his minions this way.

Finally they reached Tomoshiro's store, a darkly-lit, smoky establishment filled with all sorts of wares, displayed in long tables and cabinets along the walls. Tomoshiro himself was behind the counter, a big man with a round belly and ruddy cheeks. He looked too jolly to be involved in contraband and forgery, but Kaito had learned years ago looks meant little in the business.

"Kaito, you devil! You are alright!" Tomoshiro's eyes filled with sincere happiness at seeing him. Undoubtedly, he had heard about the attack on Tane and Mio's band.

"Yeah, I was taking care of some business at town when..." Kaito trailed off, fiddling absently with the muffler on this neck.

"I'm so sorry about what happened...but it's so good to see you! Mina is going to be so happy when I tell her...hum, and who's this?" Tomoshiro finally noticed Gakupo a few steps away, his face half-covered by the shawl.

"Haha, you got a noble girl to elope with you or something, you cur! I bet she's a real looker too!" Tomoshiro took a step towards Gakupo, and the young man automatically took two steps back, shyly drawing the shawl upwards and turning partly away. His left hand raised in a gesture similar to the ones upper-class women used to signify a negative. It was uncommon among the higher classes of Eto for women to venture out in the streets, and when they did, they spoke as little as possible, instead resorting to gestures to communicate with the lower classes.

Kaito raised his eyebrows at this, but felt no need to intervene, given that Tomoshiro backed away immediately.

"Oh, sorry, sorry! Where are my manners? A nice lady comes into my store and I lose my head!" Tomoshiro laughed riotously.

"Why don't you take a look around the store while I speak with this fool of an old man?" Kaito said to Gakupo, and Gakupo nodded silently, walking towards a cabinet filled with hair ornaments and masks.

"What a nice, obedient little thing. How did you get your dirty hands on someone like that?"

"My charming personality, perhaps?" Kaito shrugged, unwilling to get into details.

"Right. Well, I'm assuming you didn't come here just to show off, did you? What can I do for you?" Tomoshiro lead Kaito behind the counter into a corner with a table and a couple of chairs, hidden from the door of the store by a heavy cabinet full of rolled fabrics.

Kaito took the sack of jewelry and spilled it over the table, drawing a gasp out of Tomoshiro.

"What the...? Where did you get all of this? Don't tell that girl is letting you sell her things?! Now that's love for you." Tomoshiro chuckled and continued, "But I don't have enough cash on hand to buy all of this at once, at least not now. I can give you thirty grand right now and fifty more later if you come back in the afternoon, but any more will have to wait until I actually sell some of it."

"That's fine with me. I'm going for Ne Irie, and I'll need papers for me and my companion. Keep some of it in payment for that, and turn the rest into credit with your guild there."

"You got it." Tomoshiro accepted the sack of jewelry from Kaito and disappeared into a dark corridor at the back of the store. "I'll be back in a moment," he said without turning his head.

Kaito took the opportunity to check on Gakupo, still loitering about in the front of the store.

"Have you found anything you like?" Kaito asked casually.

"He has many nice things..." Gakupo said vaguely, and then, "He thinks I'm a girl."

So did I at first, Kaito thought. He scratched the back of his head and noted "Well, you did nothing to dissuade him of the notion, with the hand gestures and all."

"I thought it may be useful for him to think that. If he looks for me, he is going to be looking for a male, right?"

"That's prudent." Kaito patted Gakupo in the shoulder. "But Tomoshiro wouldn't rat us out, I'm sure of it."

Before Gakupo could reply, the older man reappeared with some folders in his hands. Kaito went back to the counter.

"Here you go. The price estimate for the lot, letters of recommendation and credit with the guild, and border passes for your ladylove and you."

Kaito considered for a moment. "Do you have a hooded cape, something simple? I think we are attracting too much attention out there in the street."

"You don't say. Sure, I think I have something appropriate around here..." Tomoshiro went to a rack of clothes, and handed him a long cape with no decorations except a trim of dusty small stars. Gakupo put it on without bothering to take off the shawl, probably to avoid having to show off his face to Tomoshiro.

It was understandable for Gakupo to be suspicious of people after what had happened to him, but Kaito hoped it would eventually subside. It was good to be careful, but the best way to get out of trouble was to act normally. Tomoshiro just laughed again and shook hands with Kaito, while Gakupo went to stand at the door.

"Take your girl for some lunch while I get more funds, alright? She's a bit on the scrawny side. My Mina had some curves at that age..."the older man sighted wistfully. "Remember you are supposed to feed them once in a while." He added with a wink.

"I'll keep that in mind." Kaito waved and headed for the exit.

When he first woke up, with a nasty headache and shivering at the coldness of the room, Akano kept his eyes closed, his fingers vainly grasping at the rumpled sheets. He knew he was alone. In a moment, he would have to get up and drag himself to the bathroom, which would be as empty as his bed was. He sunk his face in the pillow, and thought he could smell the scent of another clinging faintly to the fabric.

Akano spent that day desperately hoping, waiting to see the young man appear at the end of every corridor of Yu's fortress. With each hour, the smile in his memories turned more and more into the mocking sneer he knew he deserved for his stupidity. In the evening, he reluctantly went back to his chilly rooms, still without any news of the young man. When he walked past a group of soldiers passing the time singing and talking in one of the courtyards, their laughter was like an echo of the many times people had laughed at him back in the city for his mistakes.

Later, he made some discreet inquiries. The young man had not returned to his barracks that night. He didn't return the next day, or the days that followed. He had simply vanished. And no one cared, except for Akano.

He knew that, in some level, he had been aware the young man wasn't interested in him. It was only natural...youth and beauty and cold fire had never been meant for him. But he had wanted him so badly he didn't care, and after some cups he was willing to do and say whatever the soldier wanted as long as he could touch someone again.

And the young man had banked on that desperation, Akano could tell. Going over all he could remember saying that evening, he could deduce what the man's intentions had been easily enough. He clearly expected Akano to be too cowardly to do something it.

The more he thought about it, the more Akano pilled all of his frustrations on the image of the man with blue hair. As the days passed, a lifetime of little vexations and fruitless desires came to rest on his handsome shoulders. And the book-keeper decided to burn down the effigy of his loathing, one way or another.

He didn't need to come clean with Yu at all. He could simply go to his mountain retreat with the excuse of checking the little pet had the foodstuff he needed for the coming weeks, and then report the intrusion of a thief. If the man had mistreated the artist boy in any way, Akano would have more leeway to order one of Yu's squads to hunt him down. Yu's instructions were to keep his plaything safe, and would approve the murder of a simple deserter without further inquiry. No one had to know how the young man had figured out the location of the retreat.

Kaito and Gakupo approached the old road that connected all the coastal towns of that region of Eto without incident. It was a desolate sight; a wide empty path from one side of the horizon to another, surrounded by meager coastal vegetation and small dunes. Soon they would be outside of the lands under Yu's influence, and they would reach one of Ne Irie's watch posts, the pale remainder of the empire's tight control on its routes. Kaito hoped Tomoshiro's papers were good enough to go through the checkpoint.

Despite the uncertainty of the period, there were still a couple of inns by the side of the road from time to time, and the pair stopped at one the third day after leaving behind Reikou. It was nice to have the opportunity to bathe after a couple of days on the road, and look forward to a night on a proper bed.

The rooms they had been given were a pair of bedrooms, with a central room connecting them. The central room served as a private dining area, with a low table and pillows to sit in, a couple of painted screens and an open balcony overlooking the road.

Kaito sat on a blue pillow next to the table, sipping on some tea while he waited for Gakupo to return from the bath. The sunset dyed the room with orange tones, and candles drew sparkles from the varnished teacups and pot.

Gakupo finally returned with the tips of his hair slightly damp. With hair that long, it was quite a task to get it dry, Kaito figured. It would be a shame to cut hair so beautiful short, but things may come to a point where it became a hindrance. He loathed considering it, though, with the way it shined as Gakupo neared the table.

Gakupo looked at him in confusion.

"It may be just the light, but... er, your hair looks lighter, somehow." He said, raising a hand to touch the lock of hair that hung over Kaito's right eye. His hand stopped in midair, and he sheepishly drew back and sat on a nearby pillow, muttering an apology.

"Relax. I usually dye my hair black, but I haven't been able to get it done these past few months, so it's pretty much faded into my real color by now. I guess this last bath must've taken the last of the dye away."

Mio was the one that prepared the herbs to dye his hair whenever he needed it. He knew the recipe by heart, but never could get it just right so that the tincture would last more than few days. The last batch Mio prepared for him had burned along with everything else, and Kaito didn't feel like getting dye from a stranger in Koume.

"But why dye it? It's such a distinctive color..."

"Precisely. Your hair must be an asset, since you are an entertainer, but my usual line of work demands more subtlety. I need to blend in, and most people don't have hair like ours." Gakupo nodded at this, pensive.

Kaito thought back at one evening, long ago...His mother was tucking him in bed, and he demanded one last story before the lights were turned off.

"Let's see...have you ever wondered why your father and you are the only ones with blue hair in the village?" His mother asked. Kaito shook his head.

"Most people have brown or black hair, you know. It may be different in other places, but here that's about it. However, in the times of the empire, there was another race of people that lived here with us...It is said they were lithe, fragile beings, but with ancient magic of terrible power. When people of Eto were earth and clay, the spirit people were air and wind and flowers growing high above the ground. Many feared them, but they were friends of the imperial line, at first, and many of their princesses became wives and concubines of the emperors over the years. But most of them disappeared, when the empire started declining. No one knows where they went. The few that married men or women of Eto and remained here never revealed the secret."

"Your father is a distant descendent of one of them. Just a few drops of blood, he used to say. But it clearly shows. When I think of the first time I saw him walk into the village, with his eyes like stars and hair the color of the summer skies..." His mother blushed. "And to think he would choose me, among all the girls of the village!"

"Can I do magic?" Kaito asked.

"Oh no! The gift diluted when they married with people of Eto, I'm afraid. Still, there is a certain power in looking like you do," she lovingly ran her hand over his head. Kaito was still pretty disappointed, though.

Kaito's mind came back to the present with a knock at the door. It was a couple of serving girls, bringing their supper. Gakupo covered his head with his shawl and went to stand in the balcony, his back turned towards the room, and stayed there until they left.

Later that evening, Kaito lay awake in his bed, staring blindly at the ceiling. He regretted asking for separate bedrooms –he always preferred having some company around, be it the rest of Tane and Mio's band, or even the soldiers at Yu's barracks, and the last couple of days had been enough to accustom him to Gakupo's presence. It was embarrassing, but he hated being alone.

He thought about the young man in the bedroom opposite his own, and smiled. He could just imagine him, his hair spilling all around his head, his expression placid and remote. A hand over his chest, almost as white as the sheets, and the other resting by his side as he slept with no dreams…His lips, soft and slightly parted...

No, he would leave the boy alone. He hadn't shown any sign of interest towards him, and probably was too traumatized by his recent experiences to desire any kind of physical affection.

Kaito rolled over to the side and willed himself to sleep.

Tomoshiro's papers and some coins were more than enough to cross into Ne Irie territory unquestioned. The road continued northeast, leading the pair into the town of Benida, a steep maze of narrow streets zigzagging atop the hills overlooking the bay of Jagawan. It was a few days away from the city-estate itself, but still important enough to have a guild office from Tomoshiro's guild inside its walls.

Gakupo stood by one of the windows staring at the ocean, while Kaito talked with the guild's representative. He looked over Kaito's letters and agreed to help him find a place to stay, and a job for Kaito at the docks if he felt so inclined. It was for the best, Kaito decided, or people would start wondering how they could afford living without a visible source of income.

"Do I need to get a job too?" Gakupo suddenly piped in, turning around to face them. The guild representative blinked, obviously surprised with his voice. He had probably assumed from Tomoshiro's papers that he was a girl, and hadn't bothered to look at him more closely.

"Ah, no, I think one of us should be enough. It's just for a semblance of normalcy, you know?" Kaito wondered if Gakupo had ever done heavy work of any kind ever in his life. It was alright. He didn't resent the knowledge that some people had more money than him. Not considering how he had earned most of his keep during these past years.

Gakupo seemed to accept this, and returned his gaze towards the sea.

"So, I was thinking of this place by the southern harbor..." the representative started, recovering from his surprise.

It was a white house, very close to the shore. Just a few minutes walking down the sloped path, and one would reach the low cliffs, unkempt and wild with weeds. The paint in the windows was chipped away and the fence rusty with the salty wind, but it was more than serviceable. Gakupo immediately claimed the room in the front corner of the house, with a large bow window serving as most of the north and east walls of the room. He sat in the sill, curled like a cat, and watched the distant boats out in the bay.

"Once we get settled in, we'll go for a walk around town, alright? We need to know where everything is." Kaito popped his head inside the room, holding in his arms some musty bedding he had found in a cupboard.

"All right." Gakupo turned around to see him, but his gaze seemed unfocused. "Do you really think Bou is going to defeat him?"

Kaito shifted the weight in his arms, uncomfortable. It seemed wrong to directly lie to Gakupo, somehow.

"...Things look pretty bad. Yu's soldiers aren't exactly the most selected bunch, but a city cut off from most of his resources can only hold on for so long. If they can manage to kill Yu himself, that would be a different story. I'm pretty sure most of the men would simply leave to plunder elsewhere or even raid Koume itself, without a leader to keep them in check."

Gakupo's eyes wandered once more towards the scenery outside. "I hope they don't make my father fight. He wanted to be the one to enlist for our family, but I ran into the soldier's hall and offered myself instead. The officers there agreed –I was more expendable, anyway."

"...How long did they train you before they sent you outside the walls?" Kaito asked.

"Two days."

Kaito stared, speechless with incredulity.


	4. Chapter 4

IV

Their walk started pleasantly enough. It had rained during the night, just a light shower, and the air was fresh and cool. Kaito and Gakupo set out with no particular destination in mind, just taking in the mismatched appearance of the city.

Benida's houses were a picturesque mess of different styles and colors, fighting amongst themselves for whatever space were available between the ravines; if a fleet of ships of gaily painted wood, rusty metal, brick and mortar had once crashed against the cliffs and scatter ed all over, the result would look much like the small city. The streets were mostly muddy and twisted lanes that barely gave enough space for the odd carriage. Stones or concrete were used to form stairs, or to make a small terrace-like space before the door of some houses.

It was on one of those barely functional stairs that Gakupo tripped, and went tumbling down the street, until he stopped with a splash in a big puddle of fifthly rain water.

A group of drunks were sitting nearby, around the door to a liquors store. They wore disheveled robes in various states of disrepair, and probably could have used a light shower themselves. They erupted in laughter, whistling and catcalls directed at Gakupo, revealing a nasty collection of yellowed teeth...or in the case of one with a particularly bushy unibrow, two or three teeth barely hanging to his gums.

Kaito gave them his best death glare (though admittedly it had been one of the most impressive falls he'd ever seen). He then splashed into the puddle to fish Gakupo out. The artist was more or less in a sitting position, the heavy curtain of the hair as soaked as the once white robes. He was rubbing one of his knees. When he saw Kaito coming close, he tried to stand but went back to sitting with a grimace.

"Wait! You'll get dirty!" he exclaimed when Kaito bent down to pick him up.

"Who cares?"

Kaito wasn't the strongest man around, but Gakupo was light enough to carry in his arms without too much difficulty. In fact, he rather liked the feeling of holding him close, suspiciously smelly water and all.

The drunks cackled and cheered when he started walking down the street with Gakupo still in his arms, despite his vehement protests.

"It was just the first attempt, you know. I'm sure I can walk."

"You can limp, perhaps. This is faster."

"...And embarrassing too," Gakupo added in a small voice.

As most as the houses in Benida, the space destined for washing clothes and taking baths was separate from the main house, a small semi-open shack with floors of stones cut in dissimilar shapes, forming a couple of sunken bathtubs, with pipes pouring a slim stream of water into them. The water was heated after passing close to a furnace next to the shack, or could be heated over it in buckets. Gakupo sat in one of the tubs, with water up to the navel and a nonplussed expression on his face, but made no comment until Kaito poured a bucket of warm water over his hair. He then turned to face the bandit, who was kneeling by the side of the bathtub.

"Thank you for your assistance, but my hands are perfectly fine," he said calmly, with the distant mask Kaito now easily recognized as his upset expression.

"No problem. Just call me when you need to get back into the house."

He spoke lightly, but inwardly he felt slightly frustrated. He stood up and added, "I'll be in the back," before stepping outside the shack.

The garden, as it were, was a rectangle marked with uneven blocks of wood and rusty wire. There was nothing but weeds and some litter at the back, with a bench placed more or less in the center. Kaito sat on it, and looked at the sea. After a while, he took off his shirt. The sun was drying out the muck on it, giving a less than pleasant aroma.

What was he even doing here? He could've just gone north after Yu's attack and joined a gang in one of the cities. He saw himself clearly, singing raucously in a bar, surrounded by happy if less than attractive faces, with no worries beyond the guards a few coins couldn't buy. Nothing to think, nothing to make him second-guess himself.

Nothing of any importance, too, until the day he died.

He sighted. He had gone looking for revenge, and perhaps the opportunity to rob the warlord of his most prized possessions, instead. And so Kaito had found Yu's treasure...And it turned out treasures demanded a bit more out of you than his usual loot.

He could just drop the kid somewhere and take off...But he shot down that thought immediately. Despite Tane not being his real father, he somehow had inherited the old man's persistence. He wanted to see this thing to the end.

He eyed the shack. Was Gakupo still not done? Even taking his long hair into consideration, it was quite a while...He approached the shack and peeked in. Empty. Evidently, Gakupo had decided on limping back inside, before calling out for him. Kaito felt a pang of disappointment, but shrugged it off and began to clean himself.

After he was done, he went back into the house, wearing only his pants, and drying his hair with an old towel ha had found in the linens closet. Before anything else, he wanted to see if Gakupo was okay. He peered into his favorite room, bathed by the sunlight coming in through the bow window.

Gakupo was lying on the bare floorboards with one hand shielding his eyes from the light. His hair was spread in all directions, like a veil of purple silk. He was bare except for a white pair of the knee-length pants he wore under the robes. His skin was almost as white, ethereal and inviting, except for the couple of places scraped during his fall. Kaito wondered if he was napping.

After a few moments, Gakupo moved his hand enough to look at him with one eye, a brilliant and unreadable green marble. Just as Kaito was thinking of coming out with any excuse to go away, Gakupo gestured at him with his other hand.

"Come," he whispered, barely audible. Despite himself, Kaito felt his eyes widen.

Gakupo patted the floor by his side, and Kaito numbly went down and lied on the spot. The ceiling really needed some mending, he distantly noted. He made to turn to his side and look at Gakupo, but the boy whispered again.

"Don't move." Kaito was puzzled by this. What did Gakupo want from him, exactly? It was really hard to tell what he was thinking, sometimes. But he complied, his hands resting on his chest, and tried to relax. For a few minutes, he stared idly at the dust motes swimming in the light. The faint sound of the waves was quite distinct, the one sound to reign in the tranquil noon.

Finally, the floorboards creaked slightly and he felt Gakupo shift position. A hand landed over his, the hesitant softness of a butterfly. Then a brush on his arm, near the shoulder...and now Gakupo was pressing his forehead against him, and trembling slightly.

Kaito knew then he had to keep still. If he moved, Gakupo would slip away from his fingers, no matter what. Like a glacier waiting for the touch of spring, he could wait, until Gakupo decided it was time for the thaw. Although he wanted nothing more than to roll over Gakupo and take his mouth, his whole body, right there in the empty room, he waited gladly.

And so he did, for many days thereafter.

A semblance of normalcy...that's what Kaito had said. But what was normal? He hadn't lived in a village, amongst normal people, since he was a small child. He knew normal from the outside, a parasite if he honest with himself, taking things from warehouses and poorly guarded merchant convoys.

The closest thing he had done to honest work was tending the orchards Tane and Mio kept near the hideout for times of bad luck. And now he was leaving the house at dawn, when the fog still hugged the houses of Benida, to pass the morning in the docks, doing odd works for the guild, mostly hauling sacks and boxes from one place to another. With some surprise, he found himself enjoying it –the banter with the other men, the smells of the harbor...and what he had mockingly heard referred to as the satisfaction for a work well done. He wondered what his life would have been if his family had reached their destination safely. Would he be a simple farmer, with a wife and some kids who would be overjoyed at a good harvest, and proud of the size of his cabbages?

As time passed, Kaito felt his anger at Yu's attack, the cold anger that made him capable of anything, not exactly disappear, but sink deeply within himself...he didn't want it to rule him over forever, as useful as it was to avoid feeling anything else. Smiles came more easily, and he could feel himself return to his more easygoing self, one step at a time.

He returned each day to eat in the white house with Gakupo, and they would spend the afternoon in the beach, wondering aimlessly between the dark rocks covered with salt and the strange creatures of the sea. Gakupo knew the names of some of them (the benefits of an actual education, Kaito guessed) and sometimes would pick an interesting rock or shell to place in the sill of his bow window. At times, they would sit silently over the ruins of the old structures of the harbor, the remains of the imperial Benida of the past, clearly a more grandiose place than the merry chaos now occupying the hills.

Each day, the fog between them continued to swirl, slowly affording more and more glances towards what lied beyond. Like the sun coming out from behind a cloud, Gakupo would sometimes smile at him like he did the first day, and he could sense under it the young man as he had been at the theater, earnest and happy, diligently learning his elegant craft inside a colorful and perfect bubble.

Between his bouts of silence, he would share a story of those times. There were many rituals in the theater world, to ensure good performances and the love of the audience. Gakupo's father kept an altar to the old imperial gods of music, dance and luck in one of the rooms behind the stage, and the young artist described for him the daily routine of caring for the small shrine, and the offerings of all the members of the company usually presented before each important performance. Kaito did light some incense now and then for the luck god himself, before some jobs, but this was much more elaborate, it seemed.

The actual work of learning and practicing dances, songs and plays was similarly ritualized. Each day was filled with routines of meticulous details followed with devotion. Gakupo would gesture in the solitary beach for him, imitating the stern-faced teachers that attempted to drill into him and other apprentices just the right movement of a hand, a small step, a perfect tone of voice. Even the smallest act seemed to have had a set order and rhythm in the theater.

Sometimes, it was just a small, personal anecdote: Gakupo's first speaking role as a messenger of the pirate king...the time someone had sent him what appeared to be half a garden's worth of purple flowers...the time he had unexpectedly chocked before belting out the main solo of a play, and how terrible he had felt afterwards...

Kaito felt grateful for the growing displays of trust in him, but also something not so pleasant, something he had trouble identifying. It felt like jealousy, in a way: he pictured himself plunging into that intelligible world and plucking Gakupo like a flower, taking him into a reality he could more readily understand. It was easy, he supposed. If he never returned Gakupo to Bou, he doubted his father would ever know he was still alive. And he could convince him to stay with him, he knew he could. He knew how to charm well enough.

But then he would see Gakupo curled up in his favorite spot, sadly staring at the waves, and hate himself for those thoughts.

One afternoon they were returning home, after buying some groceries at one of the city's biggest bazaars, when they passed a house with a large front garden, something of a rarity in Benida. It was a slightly misshapen rhomboid filled with potted plants and chairs and tables, a respectably distance above street level and guarded by a metal fence. It was currently packed with people laughing and singing, celebrating someone's birthday.

Kaito turned towards Gakupo, smiling.

"I have two birthdays, you know."

"How so?" Gakupo asked curiously.

"Well, there's the actual day I was born, and the day I joined my band." Mio had always insisted on celebrating the day he was brought to her as his birthday, and it did make some sense, in a way. The fact he received presents in both days anyway didn't hurt.

"Is ...one of your birthdays near?"

"Nope, I'm a winter man through and through. How about you?"

"I don't know when I was born." Gakupo tried vainly to flatten the wild hairs on the top of his head, a gesture of uncertainty also familiar to Kaito by now. "My father celebrates the day he formally adopted me as his heir instead, in the middle of summer."

"That is closer, then." Kaito glanced at Gakupo, appraising his mood. He decided he looked expansive enough to try further questioning.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you come to live at Kamui's house?"

"Well...," Gakupo looked at the houses in their path, no doubt threading his tale in his head. "I don't remember that far, but from what I was told, I was found one night by a traveling troupe of minstrels. They were watching a star shower, camped at the edge of some woods, when I just wandered into the light of their fire, babbling in some strange tongue. They said I was dressed in finery, but of a design different from any of the styles popular then in Eto. At first, they thought I might be a spirit of the woods, but I was quite tangible."

Kaito stopped. The white house was already in view, but the tale had made forget himself, and his growling stomach demanding supper.

"But...What were you doing out there, on your own?"

Gakupo turned to look at him with an odd expression, and then continued walking, forcing Kaito to follow him.

"...They weren't any big roads near, but a child so small and well-dressed had to come from a nearby convoy of city folk, they figured. So some of them grabbed torches and searched for another camp, or an isolated wagon, or...anything. They didn't find any traces of other people around, however".

"So?"

"So they took me in. They began to teach me how to talk, to dance and sing, and I became part of their act for a while. I liked to perform in front of people, even then. The leader of the troupe saw potential in me, I guess, because he took me to Bou and sold me to the Kamui Theater House to serve and train there as an apprentice. I have never found out where I came from in the first place."

Gakupo fell silent as they entered the house. They went straight to the kitchen at the back of the place, and began to unpack the ingredients for their meal. Gakupo washed some vegetables and placed them on the cutting board, and then continued, while he carefully sliced them.

"I was able to catch my Father's eye quickly. I started to serve him personally after a couple of weeks, and he began to sit on my practice lessons to observe me and give advice soon after. Some of the other boys were...not too happy with the attention I was being given, but I was moved to my Father's house before it could go beyond name-calling. By the next time I saw them, I was back at the Theater as the owner's son. They were very pleasant then." Gakupo smiled ruefully.

"You must be pretty talented...hell, I know you are, I've seen you dance. You dad picked the best heir he could hope for."

Gakupo smiled wider, then blushing.

"It's the best life _I_ could hope for...sometimes I wished I could find out where my birth family is, but my Father...he's the one I think about when I think of home. I feel like I could dissolve, without having him at a central pillar of my life. Does it sound strange?"

"No, I get what you mean." More than you know, Kaito thought. But perhaps it was time to let Gakupo know what and who was...he couldn't just expect Gakupo to leave his silence behind, without giving something in return.

The white house was still mostly empty. They had more than enough money left to do more with the dusty rooms, but it was probably pointless to treat the place as something more than a temporary hiding place. So besides the kitchen, the only rooms truly used to any capacity were the front room with the big window, and a central room with a chimney, where they had their bedding: two mats covered with a mix of old ratty blankets and sheets that were previously on the house and newer, warmer stuff they had bought.

It was in that room, lying near the fire, where Kaito told Gakupo about a boy staring at the sky and laughing as the bumps in the road made his father's cart jump. A boy that listened enthralled at his mother's stories, picturing himself as the brave hero...but then turned out to be small and useless when the horrors actually came his way.

Gakupo listened in silence, as he spoke, the blankets covering most of his curled form except for his pale face. But his eyes were intensely fixed in him, glinting with the glow of the chimney...two drops of honey fallen into deep pools of murky green. Kaito found himself looking back at random snatches of his past: his sword lessons with Tane, punctuated with jokes from the other bandits...Mio's callused hands, running through his hair proudly...himself now older, holding Mine's thin arms as she took her first steps... There was no direction or purpose to his ramblings, but there he was, taking out his life piece by piece in front of what ostensibly was a stranger...and hoping it was a suitable offering.

After what seemed a long time, he stopped, a little awkwardly. Had he said too much? Would Gakupo be turned off by how insignificant he really was, all things considered? His face gave little insight on what he had thought of all of it.

Then one of Gakupo's hands came out from under the covers and crossed the small distance between the mats, to touch his own. Without thinking, Kaito took it to his mouth and softly kissed the fingers. He froze then, waiting for Gakupo to pull away...

And the pretty, yet inexpressive mask before him melted into a shy smile, as the hand squeezed his own, just a bit.


	5. Chapter 5

_Thanks to Viven, Natsusora, Duke I'm the Boss and Naoya for your comments and criticisms _

_As for the number one question I have been asked at Deviantart about this story: Why is Gakupo younger (and wussier XD) than Kaito? Basically, it's because I'm thinking of the Whisper Extend while writing this. It sounds quite younger than regular Gakupo to my ears. _

V

One day, Kaito returned home for lunch to find Gakupo frowning at his own image in a mirror propped against one of walls of his favorite room. A gilded pair of scissors rested on the floor near the kneeling boy next to a comb and some hair ribbons.

"What are you doing?" Kaito asked, curiously.

"Erm...I...I was thinking, maybe you could teach me to defend myself better...so I went to the guild office and asked the representative if he could lend me a sword..."

"...And?"

"And he said that in a fight, long hair would be a hindrance. That if I was serious about this, I'd need to cut it off...But..."

"But you don't want to do it." Kaito finished, kneeling next to Gakupo. After a moment Gakupo nodded.

"Hey, I understand. It wouldn't do for the up and coming star of the Kamui Theater House to return home looking like a freshly plucked chicken."

"You think I'm vain!" Gakupo accused him, almost pouting. The effect was rather cute, though Kaito was far from an impartial judge.

"Not really. It makes sense for an actor to try to cultivate a distinctive look, doesn't it? And it would be a shame to lose an asset like this..." Kaito had wanted to touch Gakupo's hair for a while, and now seized the opportunity. He gleefully sank his hands into the silky tresses framing the artist's face. Gakupo looked vaguely surprised, but didn't reject his touch.

"Just braid it when it's time to practice." Training was a good idea, actually. Kaito needed someone to spar with, or his own skills would get rusty.

"I guess this makes you my new teacher." Gakupo smiled a little.

"You are making me do all sorts of respectable work." Kaito smiled back mischievously, and moved his hands to cup Gakupo's face. His thumbs caressed the skin of Gakupo's cheeks lightly, but instead of the smile he hoped for, Gakupo suddenly looked tense. Kaito groaned internally.

"If you want a respectable job, when we go back to Bou, you could stay as my bodyguard." Gakupo blurted out, sounding as if he had been mulling it over for a while, and had jumped at the chance to say the words.

So it was that...Kaito observed Gakupo's expectant face with interest. It was an intriguing idea, of course, despite the fact that the fine officers of Bou had some unfinished business with him. The best part was that the artist himself that had brought the possibility up...

But Kaito decided to examine it with more care later, as now he was more preoccupied with the pretty face so near his own.

"That depends on how good the work incentives are." He said in a seductive tone, as he moved in closer. He could feel the lightest trace of Gakupo's breath on his skin, their lips almost touching.

Then, Kaito's stomach growled loudly, demanding attention.

Gakupo blinked, and then busted out laughing. He quickly stood up and escaped the room.

"I'll...hehe...have s-something ready in a moment, ahaha."

"Priorities, if you please." Kaito whispered, looking downwards at his midsection. Then he followed the laughing artist into the kitchen.

Gakupo gave him a quick and amused glance when he entered, and then returned to his work. The meal seemed almost ready, as he had said. Something was marinating in a big pot over the stove, and when Gakupo lifted the lid to inspect it, a delicious smell filled Kaito's nostrils.

"A pair of bowls, please."

"Right...Here." The shelf looked pretty bare, given the meager amount of plates and bowls they needed. Kaito picked two earthenware bowls with blue and purple motifs (pretty appropriate, all things considered) and Gakupo filled them with a thick broth of an intense and dark golden hue with generous chunks of meat floating within. The vegetables were already waiting for them on the table.

"Ah! Ichiro told me that tomorrow afternoon there's a festival at the central market. There's going to be all sort of food stalls, games, dancing and even a full troupe performing." Gakupo said as they sat at the small kitchen table.

"...Who's Ichiro?"

"The guild representative –Ichiro Sawanobori Morisato, I believe, is his full name."

"Oh" Kaito looked briefly at Gakupo, while pouring some iced tea into two smaller bowls. He didn't remember even hearing the guild representative's first name before.

"He was quite friendly this morning..." Gakupo played with a strand of his hair distractedly." He said it was a pity I spent so much time cooped up in here, and this was a good chance to have some fun… have some new experiences."

"Hm."

"He also said that as his guest I would of course have a seat of honor in the banquet afterwards."

"How nice of him. What did you say to all of that?" Gakupo evidently wasn't trying to rile him, but Kaito couldn't help but let slip some ice into his tone. Gakupo looked at him with puzzlement.

"I...I said I would talk it over with you, but it was pretty likely we'd be there...er...Do you think it's a bad idea?"

"Are you sure he meant to invite both of us?"

"Of course...I mean, why would I go alone?" Gakupo looked at him, tilting his head.

"Never mind. " Kaito said after a moment. Perhaps he was just over-thinking things, after all. "It does sound quite fun, actually. We shouldn't miss it," Kaito smiled slightly. That was enough for Gakupo, who smiled back innocently and began to wonder aloud what kind of show the troupe would present.

The hottest hours of midday had passed, and Kaito and Gakupo were now standing in the backyard, swords in hand. Kaito's was his old trusty short sword, not too elegant but comforting and familiar in his hand. Gakupo's sword was in contrast a light, slightly curved blade, with an ornate design of a wave in the blade, and sea green jewels incrusted in the handle.

"I still can't believe he felt confident in lending you that. That sword must cost a fortune!" Kaito shaked his head, mentally calculating how much Tomoshiro could give him for loot such as that. Then again, given that the sword was likely a property of the guild, it might've already passed through his hands once.

"Ichiro said I needed a good blade to learn properly." Gakupo shrugged. "It weighs more than the prop weapons we use at the theater, but it feels...like it fits better in my hand, somehow." He made a series of movements, something more like a dance than actual martial movements. The sword caught the sunlight and glinted in many hues, almost like an opal.

Gakupo moved around the courtyard, evidently following a diligently memorized choreography. Kaito could almost see the invisible opponent, and sense where the "fight" would pause to allow the players to sing a few lines or to say a witty remark. Gakupo even bowed at the end.

"That's pretty impressive." Kaito clapped, as he probably was expected to do.

Unfortunately, in real life people didn't wait for you to say a clever pun. Or to back flip for no reason...Most of Kaito's fights throughout his life had been messy affairs, short and decidedly poor in terms of swashbuckling. Still, he now knew why Gakupo had survived the battlefield despite the lack of proper military training. What he lacked in muscle mass, he made for in speed and nimbleness. Not all that surprising, considering his talent for dancing. He might've been quite the warrior, had he been born in the military class.

In ordinary times, members of the merchant and artist classes were forbidden to take up the learning of fencing and military strategy. Even the wealthiest of families were also denied the possibility of having personal armies or stockpiling of weapons, and had to rely on the patronage of members of the military class to protect their belongings and themselves. For merchants it usually meant presenting endless gifts and loans to their patrons. For performers, it translated in entertaining their sponsors in numerous events and sharing their prestige with them, giving the warriors an aura of culture...and sometimes in gestures of a more intimate nature, if the tales were true.

"That was from a play, wasn't it?" Gakupo nodded, and climbed with little effort the crates at the back of the bath shack.

"The singular tale of a prince of the seas, Arashi no Meitarou: master of this own destiny and scourge of all the ports from here to Mokurin!" He declared in a singsong voice, and posed dramatically. "Fear my steel, ruffian!"

Kaito laughed wholeheartedly. "Well, come down from there, prince of the seas. I want to do some actual fencing today."

Gakupo sheathed the sword and sat on the tallest crate. He seemed rather pleased to be looking downwards at Kaito.

"Help me down?"

The bandit obligingly reached upwards, and slowly lowered Gakupo into the circle of his arms. Not that Gakupo couldn't get down on by own means, but he wasn't about to complain. It seemed almost strange to Kaito to be able to just stretch out his hands and, only a moment later, be holding Gakupo against him.

They stared at each other in silence for an instant. Then Gakupo looked to a side, awkwardly.

"So...fencing, right?" He said pressing the hairs of the top of his head against his scalp. Naturally, the obstinate strands went back to normal as soon as he stopped messing with them.

"...Eh? Ah. Hm...Maybe we should start with some basic sword forms first."

He reluctantly dropped his arms to his sides and allowed Gakupo to take a few steps back. Sometimes Gakupo's moods shifted so quickly he was left reeling, truth be told.

The rest of the afternoon was spent peacefully practicing various routines. Boring but necessary, Kaito conceded.

The square in front of the central market had been adorned with many ribbons of different colors, which swayed gently in the evening air. Some hanged from the stall to stall, and others from the poles lined at the edges of the square to the balconies and windows of the buildings surrounding the space. There were paper lanterns everywhere, and the many smells of the goods offered floated in the air, mixed with the smell of flowers and the faintest whiff of the sea.

The front of the central market had three doors to it: a big double door that was now closed, and served as backdrop to a makeshift stage, and two smaller doors to the sides. People went in and out of those doors carrying props for the performances, plates filled with food and prizes for the games at the stalls.

Despite his previous enthusiasm, Gakupo looked a bit nervous as he walked down a line of food stalls next to Kaito, pulling down the hood of his cape every few minutes as if he was scared it would vanish at any second, leaving him exposed. Kaito eyed him, his arms full of bags and cartons of different foods he wanted to try, and finished munching on a sweet bean dumpling.

"Relax. Acting like you have some reason to hide is the best way to attract attention." Gakupo nodded wordlessly, and attempted to look casual. Now that Kaito thought about it, this was the first time in a long while that Gakupo had been among this many strangers. It was only natural for him to be unsettled, he guessed.

"There are many people that don't seem to be around here." Gakupo said a subdued tone.

It was true. They had even spotted a number of foreigners, some tall and pale, others with bronze skins and stocky, powerful bodies. They were likely the crews of ships currently anchored in the bay. Some had blatantly stared at Gakupo and him, likely seeing for the first time descendants of the Spirit People. After one of the darker skinned ones suddenly patted his hair in amazement, making him jump, Gakupo pulled his hood so low it almost touched the tip of his nose.

But that kind of strangers were unlikely to cause any trouble for them. As he chewed on something or another, Kaito kept looking casually around, watching for shifty-looking men, or any familiar faces from the south. The festival was bigger than he expected, and it seemed to attract people from outside Benida. He hoped that the animosity between Ne Irie and Koume had kept any possible visitors from Yu's stronghold away.

Turning a corner, the pair found a stand selling masks: elegant designs with carefully painted patterns, silly masks with bug eyes and red twisted mouths, masks resembling animals and wood spirits. Gakupo immediately picked one that shone with delicate scales of lilac and green, and after some deliberation, selected a snow fox mask for Kaito.

"I won't be able to eat wearing that!" The bandit complained, at that moment busy with some green tea sweets. Gakupo actually rolled his eyes at him.

"I don't think eating so much food of so many different types is a good idea, anyway. You should save that for later."

"What's the purpose of holding a festival like this if not to try new dishes?"Kaito said trying to sound wise. "Besides, I'm just used to eating whenever I've got the chance. Who knows when the next meal will be?" (

Gakupo looked at him with a strange expression at this, but said nothing. But then Kaito's eyes strayed to a point behind him, where he could see in the distance the section of the square devoted to dancing. Interesting...he closed the package of candies, and placed it inside his bag.

"I'll wear that, if you dance with me." He pointed at the couples going through the complicated figures of the summer festival dances, and winked.

Gakupo looked at him, his eyes shining with golden light under the lanterns, and nodded. He put on his mask and waited for Kaito to do the same. Then, he silently took Kaito's hand and led him to the dance floor: a roundish space marked with stone pots filled with flowers and surrounded with tables with people chatting and watching the dancers.

Kaito felt like he was about to jump into a dazzling whirlwind. The light of the lanterns was reflected in the gleam of the silk robes of the dancing figures all around, the ribbons dancing overhead and mask hiding Gakupo's face. His own mask added to the feeling of otherworldliness, by narrowing his field of view.

A group of musicians sat at one side, strings and drums creating a light beat, while the dancers stamped their feet on the stones of the square, moving closer together one moment and then sliding backwards, like waves on a beach. A trio of women stood next to the musicians, singing an old tune which meaning had been lost many years before the fall of the empire. Gakupo effortlessly fell into the familiar steps of the dance, popular throughout most of southern Eto, and after a moment's hesitation, Kaito followed him.

One step into the dance, and he found their bodies fleetingly pressed together. The next moment, they separated, turning in circles. Then they faced each other again, and hands brushed, slender fingers leaving an impression of heat in Kaito´s palms. As the dance demanded, they parted once more, joining the lines of dancers clapping and twirling. A stanza of the song passed, and they were reunited, and now their hands were tightly intertwined. Gakupo's hood had fallen backwards at some point during the dance, and now his hair waved around him as they glided together between the other couples. The song built itself towards the climax, and their movements followed, precise and swift. Their arms rose and fell like branches in a gale, and Gakupo's long robes whipped around his legs. Kaito's bag of goodies thumped at his side with every small jump, no doubt turning the softer foods into mush, but he was too engaged now in the dance to care.

A turn, and a hand traced a diagonal line across his back. A small laugh. Two steps forward, and now he had the teasing figure caught between his arms again. The violin cried, and they traced an eight in the cobblestones, moving as one. The drum marked the main line of the song, heavy and full, and the artist escaped again, a smile of pure joy in his lips. He pursued him across the floor, cutting his path again and again with quick and bold steps.

Finally a lute and the soft voice of one of the singers drew the song into a close, the last strands of melody a gentle contrast to the vivid chorus. Kaito placed his hands around Gakupo's waist, and pulled him closer. Gakupo in turn placed his hands in Kaito´s shoulders, the mask obscuring the upper half of his face, but leaving his mouth exposed and smiling. They moved slowly, near the edge of the dancing space.

"Let's try this again", Kaito thought, as the final notes of the song played, and lifted one of his hands from Gakupo's waist. He pulled his mask upwards to rest at the top of his head, and then took Gakupo's chin softly. The artist closed his eyes and leaned forward, sighting contentedly. Kaito tilted his head, and then finally bridged the final distance between them.

It was as if he had wandered through a desert for millennia, only to unexpectedly find an endless river of the sweetest nectar. The lips pressed against his had easily parted, and Gakupo's tongue gingerly touched his own. Kaito responded with eagerness, and he explored Gakupo with a hunger that only seemed to grow as the seconds passed. All of his senses were filled to the brim: the taste of the artist's mouth, his smell, the soft skin of the fingers gripping him, the silky hair caressing his hands as he dived in again and again, his blood rushing inside him, welcoming the body pressed against his...and yet he wanted more and more...he wanted to be lost forever inside of him, for the ache to grow and grow until he could do nothing but scream the artist's name…

Somebody giggled close by, and a man patted Kaito in the back amicably.

"Take it outside the dance floor, will ya?" A middle aged man nearby told him good-humoredly. The woman next to him looked at them with great interest.

Gakupo stepped back, blushing furiously under the mask, and Kaito counted mentally to five before turning to reply to the nuisance. Gakupo started walking briskly without even waiting for Kaito, all but running away from the scene.

"Thanks for that, man," The bandit said curtly, and the man laughed with one hand at the back of his head. Kaito snorted and followed Gakupo, who was surprisingly far already.

"It looks like the play is about to start!" Gakupo said when he reached him, before he could say anything, like proposing to duck into the nearest alley for more privacy. He called his attention to the open space before the central market, where people were beginning to gather.

"...The play? Oh right, sounds fun." Kaito tried to sound enthusiastic, but Gakupo looked at him shaking his head, his expression unreadable.

"We have all night afterwards." He whispered, and averted his eyes.

Now that sounded fun. His good humor restored, Kaito looked around and pointed at a stone bench close enough to the stage to get a good view that was yet unoccupied.

"That looks like a good place to sit. Save the space while I get something to drink."

"Sure" Gakupo sat down, looking at the preparations in the stage with professional interest.

There was a stall nearby with a good selection of beverages, some with alcohol, some lacking it, and Kaito spent some moments looking at the colorful canvasses listing the names and prices. Before he could choose though, his nose caught an enticing smell, and he spotted a stall a bit further away with some sort of fried concoctions of meat and vegetables being made.

He could try some of those as well; he mused, and went closer. Actually, he should get two plates –Gakupo had barely eaten anything since they arrived to the festival. After some minutes of waiting, it was his turn, and he handed the seller a couple of coins. He observed the thin circles of dough as the cook filled them with the salty mixture, and then dunk them in boiling oil, his stomach growling in anticipation.

"Kaito! Kaito!" A voice suddenly rang out over the sounds of the festival, and the bandit's head quickly turned towards the source of the sound.

Gakupo was running in zigzag through the crowd, his face white and anguished. The mask and cape were gone, and one of his sleeves was half-torn and barely hanging from his shoulder. Somewhere behind him, Kaito could barely make out a group of men trailing him, their advance slowed by the waves of people in the way.

Gakupo spotted him, and with an inarticulate cry rushed towards Kaito, almost knocking him backwards when he collided with him under the curious gaze of the people surrounding the stall. He looked at him with wide eyes, seemingly struggling to form words.

"I see them." Kaito said in a hushed tone. Then he mumbled an apology to the bewildered cook and grabbing Gakupo's arm, started running towards the closest way out of the square.

"They...they come...he hired them." Gakupo finally mumbled as they entered the shadows of the narrow side street, barely a steep lane of earth between the backsides of two rows of houses.

Kaito grunted in acknowledgment. It wasn't necessary to ask who "He" was. This meant the end of their life in Benida, whether they lost the thugs now or not. Their looks were so unusual, that Yu's men would have no trouble asking around until they found the white house.

All of the sudden, a couple of men jumped out from behind the corner of a house, and stood in their way. One of them brought a whistle to his lips and blew, sending a sharp note through the night. Another responded behind Gakupo and Kaito, and they turned to see more men running down the road.

"It's them alright! Go tell Akano." The biggest brute of the bunch, with a bristly beard and arms filled with scars, said to the thug next to him. Kaito vaguely remembered seeing him back at Koume. The smaller man took off running, with a last smirk directed at the pair.

Still grabbing Gakupo's arm, Kaito backed slowly against the stone wall of a house. Without looking at him, he could felt the artist almost paralyzed with dread. He was briefly incensed at the power Yu had to make Gakupo break down, but then he pushed all extraneous thoughts from his head. He had to be focused for this. With a defiant look on his face, he pulled out his knife, the only weapon they had, with the swords back at the white house.

He had to defeat these men before any reinforcements came, with or without Akano himself. It couldn't end like this.


End file.
